A fire at a prestigious Seattle gallery damaged more than 100 valuable works of art – including “irreplaceable” ones by Rembrandt and Pablo Picasso.
The blaze likely started early Friday when a warming fire in an alley accidentally got out of hand and spread into Davidson Galleries, the Seattle Times reported, citing the Seattle Fire Department.
The gallery had about 16,000 pieces valued at up to $28,000 each, gallery manager Rebecca McDonald told the outlet.
At least two etchings by Picasso and Rembrandt were among those works damaged or possibly destroyed, McDonald explained.
“Yes, we have insurance [but] we love what we do and we love the art … That’s what’s breaking our heart. This is irreplaceable artwork,” McDonald told the Seattle Times, her voice breaking.
Currently, about 50 to 75 pieces are thought to be damaged beyond repair, gallery collections manager Paige McCray told the outlet.
“We are currently reviewing pieces with less damage for their restoration potential. With the protection of archival mats and other materials, the vast majority of artworks were saved,” McCray said via email.
Davidson Galleries did not immediately return The Post’s request for comment.
The devastating fire came shortly after Davidson Galleries – which recently marked its 50th anniversary – announced plans to relocate from its longtime storefront.
The move turned out to be a mixed blessing: Some works had already been moved off-site by the time the fire broke out, while others were more exposed than they would otherwise be due to preparations, McDonald said.
The gallery manager was woken up by an alarm from the building’s security company around 6:30 a.m. Friday, she recalled.
By the time she arrived at the scene, firefighters were already at work.
“They were very cognizant that it was an art gallery and that we did work on paper. So they were very diligent about trying not to have water go everywhere. And they also helped with removing art from the drawers and bringing it outside when things had calmed down,” she told the Seattle Times.
Later in the morning, the firefighters brought salvaged works in stacks of flat files outside and piled them on the ground, local artist Aidan Sakakini, who stopped to help, said of the scene.
“We were carrying stuff from the old space to the new space. And then they had people at the Yesler spot just unpacking the boxes that were soaked. Inevitably, some work was lost. It was very hard to gauge how much,” he explained.
The windows of the gallery were also blacked out by soot, photos showed.
Sakakini even spotted the gallery’s venerable owner, Sam Davidson, surveying the losses with his wife.
“Tragic,” he lamented.
The gallery’s plans to reopen at its new location in February are now delayed as the business sources new furniture and storage systems for surviving works, McDonald explained.
“We are prioritizing the care of the artworks first,” she said.
Charles Spitzack, another local artist who is represented by Davidson Galleries, said that he is less worried about figuring out the status of his own work than is about supporting the gallery.
“A ton of it is still intact. And so I’m remaining really hopeful. But honestly, I don’t really care about my own artwork right now…I’m more looking for ways to continue to help and support Davidson moving forward,” he noted.
“Everyone was just so wonderful,” McDonald added of how the community has rallied around the gallery.
“Makes me cry just to think about how supportive the art community is in this situation,” she said.